Meandering in Montebello

July 3, 2010 Central Bar, Montebello 2:45pm

A bit of a change of plans. I’ve decided that there is nothing in Ottawa that I’m DYING to see. Therefore, I opted for a bit of a rest day here in Montebello. It’s such a nice little town. I slept pretty well last night. Got to watch a bit of the Red Sox game on TV. Another strong outing by Wakefield. I STILL don’t know a whole bunch of guys who are playing for the Sox at this point.

I think a big part of my decision was that I just really didn’t want the aggravation of spending another six (or so) hours bicycling into the wind. And, of course, if I don’t have a bit of a tail wind when I head back toward Montreal tomorrow, I’ll be REALLY pissed off. We’ll see what happens.

I’ll just retrace my path on the way back to Montreal, but perhaps take a bit more time to take some pictures, etc. I’m hoping to stay in Saint Placides at La Capucine on the way back. Then, it’ll be a straight shot back into Montreal. I’ll have to sort out accommodation before I get there (maybe later tonight). The Motel Bel-Eau has WiFi access in the rooms, so I should be able to take care of that.

I could go ahead to Ottawa (about another 80km) and take the train back to Montreal (assuming bicycles are allowed on the trains), but I think it’s better to spend the time on the bicycle. That’s the thinking at this point.

I finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Pretty good stuff. I’ll be interested to read The Girl Who Played With Fire, which I believe is the next in the sequence. Right now, I’m reading Down the Nile in a Fisherman’s Skiff which might help me with my Ph.D.

Here in Montebello today, it seems as though there is a Harley rally. I’ll bet if I counted the bikes parked on the side of the streets here, there would be 50 or so, maybe more. I remember seeing all of the signs along the way to here which said in French (with a picture of a motorcycle with earphones around it), “Please keep the noise to a minimum.” (Of course, I’m only loosely translating.)

Watched the Germany-Argentina match this morning. What a shocker!!! Not so much that Germany won, but by the amount!!! Who would have figured they would STOMP Argentina? I would imagine there were quite a number of people who felt that Argentina would win. I’m sure the criticisms that dogged Maradona as coach will begin all over again. I’m watching the first half of Spain-Paraguay as I write this.

Watched Serena Williams overwhelm Zvonareva this morning as well. 6-3, 6-2. Not much of a match. It’s a little disappointing (to me) that Serena showed so little emotion during the match. She seemed to take so little joy in the battle.

Nadal vs. Brdych should be quite a mismatch…but, who knows? That’s why they play the matches. Burdych will have to play “red line” tennis which involves taking all kinds of chances. Again, we’ll see. I should be on the road, I won’t be able to watch any of it. AND, the place where I’ll be staying doesn’t really have TV or Internet. That’s one of the things I like about it. Quiet.

Other than that, a couple of issues on the work front. The announcement about my re-assignment has gone out to the general population at AUD. I’ve gotten one “congratulations” e-mail from one colleague. I’ve also gotten a follow-up e-mail from the President of AUD asking me to stay with one of the important projects that I began before the transfer took place. No worries. It is a logical request given that I was part of preparing the original SACS document, and the fact that Dr. Lege will have plenty on his plate to get used to at the beginning of the term. But both Drs. De Masi and Nader had nice things to say about the contributions that I made during my time as Interim Chair. Dr. de Masi talked about “let’s keep the momentum going.” Nice thoughts.

Dinner at La Zouk Restaurant here in Montebello. Good stuff. Ate outside on the porch. It was a pleasant, but windy, evening. Onion soup to start. (God, how long has it been since I’ve had THAT?) Another chicken burger with a side of Caesar salad and a couple of beers. I was pretty proud of myself when I pointed out that I had two beers rather than the one that had been listed on the bill. If I’m going to teach my students to be ethical, I guess I have to practice what I preach. As my brother Bill and I have often discussed, “When you know what the right thing to do is, why would you do anything else?” It just complicates your life.

Anyway…I’ll be heading back to Montreal tomorrow. We’ll see what happens once I arrive there. I still haven’t figured out accommodation. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

On a separate TV from the Spain-Paraguay match, the Montreal Senior Open is going on. It’s pretty clear that the wind is blowing pretty good at the golf course. I hope it’s blowing in my direction tomorrow. I’d hate to think that I have to fight the wind both ways. Although when I bicycled around Ireland (a thousand years ago), it seemed as though whatever direction I was going that the wind was in my face. Oh, well.

Upon watching the World Cup, I’ve come to the conclusion that no referees in any sport take the kind of abuse that soccer officials get. It’s just amazing. At every decision, there are four or five members of each team surrounding the referee to plead their cases and try to get him to call something or not call something. And with all the DIVING on both sides it really is amazing that more players don’t get kicked out.

In the Spain-Paraguay match, I’ve just watched two penalty kicks saved. On the second one, when Spain was shooting, the shooter’s teammates went into the box before the shot (successful) was taken. So, the shot had to be taken again. The second one was saved. Why the shooters don’t just shoot at the middle of the goal is beyond me. The goalies dive one way or the other. That means they’re not in the middle. But the shooters shoot for low or high corners. WHY????? Just shoot right at the keeper. HE WON’T BE THERE!!! Just a thought.